Preface:
In the fierce competition in China's e-commerce industry, JD.com has always been an important player that cannot be ignored.
As the second largest e-commerce platform in China, JD.com, with its advantages in 3C digital, home appliances and other fields, still maintains steady growth in the sandwich of Alibaba, Pinduoduo and other rivals. However, just as the 2024 Double 11 Shopping Festival is approaching, a seemingly ordinary marketing decision by JD.com unexpectedly triggered a storm of controversy that swept the entire network.
It's easy to say: JD.com has hired talk show actor Yang Li and twin sister Yan Yiyan to help promote the Double 11 shopping festival.
It's not unusual, it's already common for large companies to find celebrity endorsements, but the bad thing is that most of JD.com's user groups are men, and the spokespeople have just made remarks about the positions of men and women.
At this moment, many consumers don't buy it, and even call on Liu Qiangdong to fire some people, what is going on?
Jingdong endorsement turmoil
Since the announcement of the spokesperson, in just a few days, there has been a lot of noise on the Internet, as if everyone is talking about it.
Why do they have such a big opinion? To know the reason, we must first review Yang Li's "history of fame".
In 2020, in the variety show "Talk Show Conference", Yang Li became popular on the Internet with the sentence "He is obviously so ordinary, but he is so confident". This sentence quickly became a hot word on the Internet, and the term "Puxin Man" was born and widely circulated among young people. Ms. Yang's remarks have sparked a huge controversy, with supporters arguing that she speaks to many women and critics saying that she is creating gender antagonisms.
Yang Li has repeatedly said that her remarks are satirizing some social phenomena and are not aimed at all men.
However, in the age of the internet, once a label is attached, it is difficult to remove it easily. Yang Li's style of speech is considered by many to be similar to the former Internet celebrity writer "Mimeng", and both have a tendency to create antagonism between men and women. To make matters worse, Yang Li's colleagues such as Meng Chuan, Yan Yi and Yan Yue also made similar controversial remarks, which undoubtedly added fuel to the fire of the whole incident.
In this context, JD.com's decision to choose Yang Li as its spokesperson is particularly sensitive.
The majority of users are male
According to the data released by JD.com, its main user group is mainly male, accounting for about 60%, mainly concentrated in the young group of 16-35 years old. This is precisely the group that is most sensitive to the remarks of "ordinary believers". Therefore, JD.com's decision was regarded by many as "self-severing arms", or even "smashing the pot after eating".
Many people think that it was a big mistake for JD.com to find Yang Li's spokesperson. Why?
First, it could make JD.com's reputation worse. Now, a company's reputation is as precious as gold.
Secondly, it could also affect JD.com's business. Think about it, it took so many years for JD to build a good image, but it may have been ruined all of a sudden because of the wrong spokesperson, what a pity.
Customers don't buy it
Sure enough, things quickly got bigger. JD.com's customers exploded online:
Some people say they want to return what they bought, and some people say they want to cancel their membership. Under JD.com's official account, there was scolding everywhere, as if a storm had suddenly hit.
To be honest, this kind of thing is not new in the e-commerce circle. Other companies have experienced similar turmoil. However, this time Jingdong seems to be in trouble, and it comes very quickly, which catches people off guard.
This is more colloquial, using more vivid metaphors and popular expressions to make the content easier to understand and accept.
In the face of surging public pressure, JD.com finally chose to delete the promotional content related to Yang Li and twin Yan Yiyan.
JD.com's response
It's a reluctant choice, and it's a common means of crisis PR. However, simply removing content will not quell public anger. In the age of the Internet, the speed of information is far faster than the speed at which businesses can react. Even though JD.com has deleted the relevant content, the controversy continues to ferment.
From a business point of view, this turmoil will undoubtedly have an impact on JD.com's performance.
JD.com's financial report for the second quarter of 2024 showed that its net income was 291.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%. Although the growth rate is not high, it is not easy to maintain positive growth in the current economic environment. However, the spokesperson turmoil is likely to have a negative impact on JD.com's fourth-quarter results, especially during the all-important Singles' Day shopping festival.
So, why did JD.com make such a decision?
From a marketing point of view, the choice of topical celebrities as spokespersons was originally intended to attract more attention.
Yang Li is undoubtedly one of the most topical talk show actors in recent years. JD.com may be hoping to use her influence to attract more young female consumers to balance out its disproportionate male user base. However, they seem to have underestimated the depth and breadth of the controversy sparked by Yang's remarks.
Deep in thought
If you think about it, this incident actually reflects some problems in our society that are not easy to see.
In recent years, more and more women have become aware of their rights, and their social status has slowly improved. People began to discuss more about gender equality and women's rights. However, sometimes these discussions turn into arguments, and some people even start attacking the other gender.
The reason why Yang Li's words caused such a big controversy was because she came across this sensitive topic. It's like stepping on someone else's sore spot, and it hooks everyone's emotions all at once.
For enterprises, how to make the right decisions in such a social environment is a huge challenge.
On the one hand, enterprises need to keep pace with the times and reflect the progress and changes of society; On the other hand, we can't ignore the feelings of traditional user groups. In this case, JD.com apparently didn't find that balance.
So, how should JD.com respond to this crisis?
What to do
First, they need to face up to the problem, not simply delete the content in question.
Second, they need to re-evaluate their brand positioning and target audience. If JD.com does want to attract more female users, they need to take a more nuanced and long-term strategy rather than simply doing so through a controversial spokesperson.
Third, JD needs to rebuild a relationship of trust with its existing user base.
This may require a range of remedial measures, such as issuing a public statement explaining the rationale for the decision and committing to be more cautious in future marketing campaigns. At the same time, they can consider launching some promotions for existing user groups to win back the hearts of users.
Fourth, JD.com could consider using the crisis as an opportunity to redefine its brand image.
They can try to create a more inclusive and diverse brand identity that respects traditional user groups while attracting new consumers. This may require a series of long-term brand-building efforts rather than relying on short-term marketing strategies.
From a big point of view, this incident is a wake-up call for all companies that do e-commerce.
Now, the e-commerce industry is fiercely competitive. Companies are looking for ways to attract more customers and find new ways to make money.
However, there is a dilemma: how can you satisfy different types of customers? How can you make money while still doing something beneficial to society? These questions are not simple, and they require companies to think about them.
Epilogue:
Looking back at the development of China's e-commerce industry, we can see that every major industry change is accompanied by a deep insight into user needs. As the market matures, the needs of users become more and more complex and diverse.
In this context, e-commerce platforms can no longer simply rely on price wars or star effects to attract users.
They need to have a deeper understanding of their users' needs and provide more personalized and high-quality services.
The source comes from Phoenix.com Technology: Choosing to cooperate with Yang Li, is Jingdong crazy?
The source comes from Luzhong Morning News: Controversy caused by inviting talk show actor Yang Li to participate in the event, and just now, Jingdong apologized